Member of a church planting team for the last 9 years - still striving to 'crack the missional code' for our context.

Testimony in brief:

I grew up in a Christian family and heard stories from the bible and about Jesus, but though as a child I may have simply accepted them as being true, it did not stop me growing up to be a sinner because knowledge wasn't mixed with faith. By the time I was 10, I knew there were things that I personally felt were wrong and also displeased God, yet I did them anyway. In that context, when I heard what Jesus had done for me, it grieved me enough to cry out - 'Lord, I'm sorry, please forgive me, I want to turn from these things and live for you'.

In a way I can't fully explain, I found after praying, I immediately knew that God had heard my prayer, forgiven my sin, given me a new heart and came to live in it because I trusted in what Jesus had done. Since that time, I have not been perfect, I still have the capacity to choose to do what is wrong, but I find that God has never left me and my love for Him and faith in Him has been growing more and more through the passage of years. I find that I want to do what is right, not because of what other people would think of me, or what I would think of myself, but to please the God I love.

All this isn't just a theory or a philosophy for me, it has been the gateway to an intimate relationship with a living God. The bible promises us that this kind of experience is open to any who would seek it with all their heart - as Jesus calls out: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me."